If you are reading this blog it is probably safe to say that you care or at least understand the troubles facing our nation well enough to be searching for information and facts to help you determine where you stand. For this I commend you. As I sit here typing there is a silent enemy descending upon our nation and I only see it getting worse as time goes by. The enemy I speak of is the culture of ignorance and complacency that appears to permeate our younger generations and many of the older for that matter. I encounter this enemy almost daily and while I understand politics and government aren't very interesting to many individuals, I am still amazed at how completely uninformed so many are and how easy they find it to not care.
For too long I have tried talking about such issues just to be abruptly cut off and told they couldn't concern themselves with such matters. I don't know how many people realize what they're ultimately saying is that they don't care about their own future. They don't care about the future of the kids they either will or already have. They don't care about the nation and world they will leave for future generations. This is sad to say the least.
Though I find such events troubling, I am also encouraged from time to time when I have the opportunity to speak and inform people I meet in my day to day interactions with them. I try to squeeze in a tidbit here and there about the latest issues to see where they stand and then challenge them to support their stance. I see that many do care however I also see how terribly ignorant many are of the facts surrounding the issues. For example I was at a bar and asked some younger people what they thought of the health care reform bill. Many were quick to say they were all for it until I asked how they felt about the possible 12% state tax on their income to support the cost. I asked how they felt about the government telling them what insurance they "have" to have. As a general rule positions, stances, and opinions quickly changed as they were confronted with more and more facts.
This lead me to wonder how it is that college age students could be so blissfully ignorant about the world they live in? They are either still in college or recently graduated from high school and yet it is like they have never taken an American or world history lesson in their entire lives. They can tell you the latest news regarding Heidi and Spencer's breakup, the latest sports numbers and draft picks for their favorite team, yet when asked simple questions about the world they live in and events leading up to now.......... Yup, nothing.
Now I know there is much to be desired from our current public school systems but you have got to be kidding me. Wisconsin has some of the highest taxes in the country yet this is the best education our tax dollars can provide? I am inclined to believe the taxpayers are getting ripped off and what's worse is that they're paying a fortune for "Generation Me's" full of self absorbed brats, preoccupied with sex, drugs, and celebrity.
Now I don't mean this as an attack on parents as I realize families are working more and more to pay ever increasing taxes and still afford to pay the rest of their bills and raise families. The problem occurs with the educational system and pop culture as I feel both have created the enemy facing us today. Heaven forbid anyone mention God in school but sex education is perfectly ok. These are just a few of the issues contributing to the problems facing our world today however I think we can all also agree recognizing problems is only as good as the solutions that follow. With that being said here are a few common sense solutions I believe we can agree upon.
1) We need God back. America was founded as a Christian nation with our rights having been endowed by the creator. Congress opens up with a prayer, God is on our money, and angels and other divine imagery is all over our capital buildings in Washington and around the country. Despite these facts many have tried to replace our country's history with a more secular one under the guise of the separation and establishment clauses as interpreted by activist judges. This must be stopped.
2) Get rid of "social studies". If they want to call it what it is, they should refer to the class as "liberal revisionist history". History is fine but social studies undermines the true history of America and the basis of our great nation.
3) Bring back competition. I mean this in the sense that we need to do away with the touchy feely garbage at our schools and get back to winners and losers. If you want to win you must be more motivated and ambitious than the next guy. This has been the American way since we were founded. As I think of this I am reminded of a high school in Colorado that did away with having a valedictorian since it implied one student had done better than the rest........ Umm yeah. I thought that was supposed to be the purpose. It rewards 1 student for working harder than the rest........
4) Teach the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers. These documents gave rise to the greatest nation on the face of the earth and should be taught in the clear, right vs wrong mentality they were written in, not in the revisionist context commonly taught today.
5) Be involved with your children. Ultimately this is a war and if we wish to defeat the enemies facing our country today, ignorance and complacency, we must instill our own conservative, Christian, capitalist values into them as it certainly won't be happening at the liberal establishments known as our public schools or the pop culture that permeates their lives. Lead by action though. As I'm sure we can all agree words are only as good as the actions that follow.
In closing I would like to leave you with a quote from one of our wise founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. As in many cases he has already seen and prescribed the correct course of action in winning this conflict, "Educated and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
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